Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice WWII German Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD - National Labor Service) Aluminum Flag Pole Finial or Topper (Fahnenstange Endstück). The RAD logo is a shovelhead, which has a canted Swas (Swas) in the middle, with two sheaves of wheat extending from the bottom at 45 degree angles. The finial is made of cast aluminum, and is maker marked on the socket:

The last line is short for Gesetzlich Geschützt (Protected By Law), indicating that the pole finial was a trademarked design. Next to the markings is the RAD arsenal mark in a triangle. It measures 12 1/4 inches tall, and is 9 1/4 inches wide at the tips of the wheat sheaves. There is some overall aluminum oxidation and wear, from the pole finial running into things, but it has a great aged aluminum patina.

These Flag Pole Finials are extremely hard to find, as most were destroyed or melted back down as scrap. This is one in very nice condition, ready to add to any collection!

The basis of the RAD, Reichsarbeitsdienst, (National Labor Service), dates back, at least, to 1929 with the formation of the AAD (Anhalt Arbeitsdienst) and the FAD-B (Freiwillingen Arbeitsdienst-Bayern).  Shortly after AH’s appointment as Chancellor in Jan 1933, the NSDAP consolidated all labor organizations into the NSAD (Nationalsozialist Arbeitsdienst), a national labor service. It served as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the German economy, militarize the workforce and indoctrinate it with NSDAP ideology. It was the official state labor service, divided into separate sections for men and women.

On June 26 1935 the NSAD was officially re-designated RAD, and from then onward, men aged between 18 and 25 may have served six months before their military service. During World War II compulsory service also included young women and the RAD developed to an auxiliary formation which provided support for the Wehrmacht armed forces.